The gist of the story- The husband hates his job, quits his career is out of work for two years and takes a loan from the money-grubbing wife's father. He finds another job and makes even more money but again hates his career and his employer. Then, one night as the money-grubber is having a party in their fancy chateau, he falls asleep at the wheel as he is coming home and drives off of a cliff into the ocean. Yep, you heard me. And get this-he lives and makes his way to a lovely little YOUNG french woman and makes love to her within several hours of her rescuing him. The setting is gorgeous, part of the book is set in Paris, some of it is set in Charles’s lavish château in Normandy, and part of it is set in Aud’s small cabin, also in Normandy. All of these places are well described and made for a bit of escapism. I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.*** With many months having past, together Charles and Aude must decide which was the best way to go for their lives together. Do they disappear forever, or have Charles make amends to face his family? Charles Vincent appears to have everything he’s always wanted in life, his two children are grown and off doing their own thing, and while his marriage isn’t perfect, he’s worked hard to keep it together. His job pays well, which helps his wife maintain the lifestyle she desires, but his job isn’t what he’s always wanted to do. But, overall he’s content with his life, but he hasn’t felt true happiness in a long time.

Without A Trace by Danielle Steel - Pan Macmillan

This book is horrifyingly dreadful. Nothing redemptive about it. Ms. Steel creates flat and boring characters and them proceeds, with her usual endless repetitive writing, to tell us everything. Over and over and over again. The readers aren’t given any opportunity to develop their own opinions. This is simply bad writing. Well, the rest I will leave up to you to imagine. I've read about 80%, and while I'm still interested in how the greedy wife is going to take him to the cleaners during their divorce and just what is going to happen to the hottie and her escaped ex. But get it from the library if you can. Long story short-he feigns his death until one day, his hotties ex-husband breaks out of jail (yep, in there for murder) and makes his presence known to them. So the husband decides to return from the dead and make things right with his family and his finances *snort* so he can spend the rest of his life with his young hottie.

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Ill leave you with this food for thought... In the story, it has a way of giving you a perspective on what life could be like if you just decided to get up and walk away. So I ask you, "What would you do if you had the chance to start all over, but have your loved ones left behind without knowing where, when, or if you will return"?

Without a Trace by Danielle Steel | Goodreads Without a Trace by Danielle Steel | Goodreads

Without a Trace by Danielle Steel is a fast-moving romantic suspense set in France, about a man who decides to change his life after a near-fatal accident. Now, what do you think the money-grubber will think about this? She already has issues with splitting his estate with their two children. What would you do if your life was unhappy and you had a chance to disappear and start your life all over again? Charles Vincent learns the answer to that question when his car slides over an ocean cliff into the water. He survives, and finds his way to a country house where a lovely woman takes him in and helps him heal. Charles hates his job, is unhappy in his cold marriage, and wants nothing more than to move on in his life. Could this be his chance to just disappear? Charlie had been brought up to respect and achieve intellectual excellence, and his writer father was puzzled by his interest in “commerce.” Charlie’s mother had died when he was in college. She had been a gentle woman, a college professor at the Sorbonne and a poet laureate. None of that meant anything to Isabelle. She was familiar with her father’s relatively ruthless success. Her three sisters had married prominent men, but none as successful as Charlie had been for sixteen years, and she was proud to be his wife then, and infinitely less so once he was unemployed.Charles Vincent feels trapped in his treadmill of a life. He’s wealthy and successful, doing a job he doesn’t want to do, in a marriage to a woman where the romance died many years ago. All that interests Isabelle is his money to fund her extravagant lifestyle. The children have left home and there is nothing for him to look forward to. If the plot wasn't bad enough, the characters of this book are just...I don't even know. First, they aren't likable. They don't read as real people. They're the same stereotypes Steel loves to use. Gorgeous young blonde. The icy older wife who is money hungry. Poor, put upon rich white guy. There wasn't a single character of substance in this book. Plus, the main character, Charles is a garbage human. Anyone who can let their children think he is dead for months is no hero. The fact that Steel thought she could make him the hero of this book shows how out of touch she is.

Without a Trace « Danielle Steel Without a Trace « Danielle Steel

How can Ms. Steel write eight books in 2022 with another four lined up for very early 2023? I don't want to falsely accuse someone of using ghostwriters, but I cannot see how this is physically possible. I did like the book The Whittiers, which came out in November, and that is why I agreed to read the next two books, this one (published in January 2023) and Worthy Opponents, which I hope isn't as far-fetched as this book was. Charles was the CEO of the biggest plastics manufacturer in France, Jansen Plastics. It was his second career, a reincarnation after an earlier life. The job at Jansen had saved him eleven years ago. This. Book. Is. Awful. I don't say that lightly. I try to be as fair as I can because I realize how hard it is to put a book out and let the world see a piece of your work. But some books should not be written or published and this is one of them. Steel has been skating by for at least 15 years being one of the top authors in the US and this book is a prime example. Why? Let me tell you. And the plot. More holes than Swiss cheese. That car accident would have caused more bodily damage to Charlie. Very convenient that he finds Aude, a young, beautiful single woman. And completely inconceivable that they fall into bed together in just a few hours of meeting. And fall in love and cue the violins. And then close the book and wonder yet again how Ms. Steel still has a publisher.One evening Charlie leaves work, driving towards their Normandy chateau. He has been working late every night, he is tired and not concentrating. While driving, just an hour away from the chateau, his car veers off the road, down a cliff and into the sea. The accident should have killed him – he almost felt ready to die. But he escapes – and somehow finds the strength to climb to safety.

Without A Trace by Danielle Steel | Waterstones Without A Trace by Danielle Steel | Waterstones

Danielle I feel like stepped out of her comfort zone on this book, but it 100% was one of the best works I’ve read. Finished in one setting and definitely kept me intrigued from the absolute beginning…. I feel like doing the exact same thing this guy did sometimes!!! In the hands of a talented and insightful author, this could have been an interesting book. Ms. Steel is not that author. Thank you to #NetGalley and the publisher for the early edition of #WithoutTrace in exchange for an honest review. I'm a Danielle Steel Fan and this novel was different than her romantic reads. In a world where money tends to dictate happiness, only by losing his prestige and name, does Charlie realize what's important. What would happen if you were given a chance to walk away from everything in your life and start over with a blank slate, and you had a split second to decide? In Without a Trace, Danielle Steel tells an irresistible story of the risks two people are willing to take in exchange for a second chance at the life they’ve always wanted. Without a Trace by Danielle Steel is a standalone novel. The story revolves around Charles Vincent, who is married, has two grown up successful children, and a high paying job; but he is currently trapped into an unhappy marriage. His wife (Isabelle) never works, spends money, enjoys being considered wealthy and lives a glamorous life. Charles had been in the publishing field, making very good money, until he quits his job, and money becomes an issue for two years, with Charles borrowing money from his wife’s father; his wife constantly threatening a divorce. Charles finally gets another job, making even more money, but he does not like the work and his boss.Repetitive, silly, unrealistic, far-fetched and without giving away character or theme storyline’s, I keep saying, “there’s no way that person would do that”. In the end, a point of honor unraveled Charlie’s career, as fast as his meteoric rise had catapulted him into publishing stardom before that. A small argument became a big one. It was about adding soft porn to their list for purely commercial reasons. The owner was for it, and Charlie opposed. The owner’s massive ego was challenged, and he hired an outsider over Charlie to control him, and force Charlie to endorse their position. What ensued were two years of battles, followed by a massive showdown, and a situation Charlie could no longer tolerate. They slowly squeezed him into a corner, and he had to either swallow his pride and give into them, or leave. He opted for the latter, after a bloody war. He quit in a blaze of pride and fury, and with the absolute certainty that he’d have no trouble finding a job he liked better, with a more reasonable owner at the helm, with values similar to his own. The publishing house where he had worked promoted someone from the internal ranks to take his place, make fewer waves, and do exactly what the owner wanted with no resistance. They opened a whole category of soft porn, which didn’t do as well as they’d hoped and had been sure it would. The business suffered as a result, and several of the big authors he had brought to them left when Charlie did, but for two years Charlie was out of a job. His world crumbled around him, and his personal life went with it.